H2 Tech Solutions - Company Worklog

cornelious0_0

[H]F Junkie
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Apr 6, 2003
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I'm starting this thread as more of an ongoing "bulletin board" of pictures related to system builds that I take on to do for others, as I have finally started to get a little busier building computers for a fee...satisfying my wallet as well as my hardware obsession. :D

The pictures may come at varying times but I will do my best to keep the original post updated with thumbnail images and/or links to all images sorted out for easier viewing. I always try to do what I can with the wiring of the system but unfortunately some of my customers don't want any holes (visible or not) cut in their case...leaving me no choice but to work with what's there.

I'm always open to comments and suggestions that might in some way be constructive or helpfull and don't worry...I take compliments quite readily as well. ;)

The first system "showcased" is one that I put together for a family friend using a Lian-Li PC-A05B:


My second build ended up being a gaming system built within the Antec 1200 case featuring a custom watercooling loop dedicated to the CPU:


The third system I'll add to the list is my own Shuttle SP35P2 Pro. Sadly enough the PSU shorted and fried the motherboard and my HD4870 so the system is no more. Here's what it looked like a mere week or less before it went belly up:


I finally found what i had been looking for...the one remaining picture of my first watercooling setup for 4+ years ago!!!


Here's another system build of my own from a year ago, nothing fancy, but considering the extremely limited cable routing options in the Antec SLK1650B I was fairly happy with the result:


Here's my system as it stood months back before I moved it into the Mini P180, I was pretty happy with the wiring job in the TJ08.


And last but not least (for now) is the system that I just rebuilt for my mother-in-law using the Antec 300 Gamer case. The ATX cable was shorter then I thought and left me very few options, the next time I use the case I'll definitely be cutting a hole next to the PSU to feed cables straight behind the mobo tray.


Adding one more to the collection, here's my system as it currently stands, the Mini P180 is so spacious and easy to work with!


That's it for now...the thread itself will always be open for discussion between projects so don't be shy. :)

I'll always be posting pics as they roll in but once a project has been completed I'll grab one or two "finished" pictures to add to the original post. If any additional info or pictures are desired I'll see what I can do. I'm not one to take pictures everytime I install a new piece of hardware but typically I'll have more then what I post in the thread.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and get me talking about why things are the way they are though, sometimes the discussion about the build is just as fun as the work itself. Even if you guys have requests for things like cases you want to see me try out because of wiring difficulty with my next client (assuming the case/component fits the customers requirements)...let me know, I'm perfectly willing to take requests and suggestions seriously if it pleases my public. ;) :D
 
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Nice work! How do you like the antec 1200 vs 900?


BTW I think about 80% plus of this forum dreams of a job like that :D

***Edit***

When I used to build customer rigs I found that sleeving the wires does wonders. Especially since they tend not to upgrade/move things around allot, you can sleeve groups of wires together. This makes an EXTREMELY clean look. Does not add a single drop of performance though, but really adds to the visual appeal imho :p

You can get them from SVC as I recall in different colors (the come in black for sure, thats all I used... well one time pink UV reactive sleeves, but they were a pain). They are really simple you just use a hair dryer to shrink em tight around the wires. And the come off very easy should the need arise.

GL and keep us posted :cool:

BTW what area are u building out of?
 
lol...finally some attention. :p

I do plan to start picking things up for myself very soon. I'm getting married on the 23rd but after that I'm going to start putting money into purchasing some of my own supplies...a dremel, hole saw etc...

I wouldn't mind having a half decent selection of heatshrink and sleeving on hand as well but the last two builds weren't concerned too much...but I gave them the option...believe me, I wouldn't leave out something like that! :)

This isn't a job quite yet, but I'm starting to get busier so I'm very excited to see where things go...word is spreading fast!

I live in Saskatoon, SK Canada but I have done systems for people across the country and shipped to them afterwards as well...things have been well.
 
GL!

Having been a former moding shop owner... I know how hard it can be... Keep the word out on different forums. Its all about getting the word out!

GL on it! I know it may be random, but if you have any questions feel free to give me a PM or something.


-Go rawk them cannuk PCs ;)
 
I've got some more pics of my Shuttle and a little bit of explanation for you guys. What I've got in the works in quite possibly the best way I've come across (though I've never seen it done) to effectively drop case/cpu/nb/gpu temperatures inside a more recent P2 based Shuttle system. I'll describe what's going on before each picture followed by a little bit of a summary.

1 - A look at what's been removed from the system. The optical drive is going into an external enclosure and I will be losing the 3.5" drive bays, the only real disadvantages to the system following these modifications.


2 - Here's a nice little profile/angle shot of the system with the case panels removed, giving a little bit of a look at how things are shaping up internally.


3 - A birds eye view of the system as is at the moment, revealing more of the new and improved (and quite spacious) internals as well as the modded ICE cooler.


4 - A look from the right side of the system, more or less same as what it was before but the wiring actually looks messier because you're looking right through the system...oh well, it'll still have to do...for now. ;)


5 - A similar view only this time from the left side of the case, showing off the sexy GSkill 4GB DDR2 kit and HD4870 peeking through from the other side.


6 - A look at what still needs to be done. Once I can find a 120mm fan grill that I like I'll be installing my ~80cfm Scythe case fan in this position, acting as an intake fan, let me take a little more time to go over how this will benefit the system where other users mods seem to have fallen short.

Once the 120mm fan is installed I'll first be reversing the ICE fans to blow out the left side of the case. The advantage of this new airflow system will be the obvious, the ICE fans will be taking in cool/fresh air and pushing it directly through the heatsink and out the case. In addition to the CPU, the motherboard components cooled by the Oasis cooling system will be getting a lot of direct airflow as well, dropping their temperatures. The memory will also benefit from this cool air and once I pickup an OCZ XTC Memory Cooler there will be even more airflow on and around the memory. Last but not least, the toasty HD4870 will be benefitting from the air intake as well, (hopefully) dropping its temperatures enough to get a little more of an OC out of the card then you'd expect in such close quarters.


7 - Although my camera sucks, here's a little bit of a closer look at the modified ICE cooler. What most people do (and what I started with) is remove the stock 70mm fan and ghetto mount an 80x25mm fan of their choice. Beyond that, the shroud that the 70mm fan mounts to can also be removed. At first I did not realise the benefit to this change, but it brings the interior ICE fan much closer to the heatsink fins, greatly improving the push-pull efficiency of the ICE fans. But no...I had to go one step further, with the drive cages removed there's room for a nice 92mm fan in place of the 80mm interior ICE fan. I've never seen anyone yank out the whole drive cage and put a second 92mm fan on the ICE cooler so I'm very ancious to see how the additional preasure/airflow helps things out.


So yeah, that's what's happening with the Shuttle at the moment. I'm pretty excited to get the 120mm fan added but even with the moddified ICE cooler and 92mm fan addition it should be pretty sweet. I realise that most people aren't willing to move to an external optical drive and limit themselves to a single hard drive, but for me the mods are worth it, as I want to get as much out of this system as possible.

Once things progress I'll get more pictures added and the first post will eventually be updated once the mods are completely finished.
 
Good Luck! I am starting to do the same but for large customers (major hardware vendors). I have already been the sponsored route but now have my first company who outright will pay instead of just give me all the hardware. Fun times!
 
For sure man, good to hear things are going well for you...I'm excited to see how things pan out on this end...I'm not limiting possibilities at all at this point.
 
Hmmm, great plan for a worklog. Thinking of doing the same once I start picking up more business. Been a bit slow lately..:eek:
 
Thanks, and good luck to you too.

The one main thing I want people to take into consideration is that I may be using this thread as an online portfolio of sorts for inquiring customers of mine so I would like to keep language to a respectable "G" rating.

Not that things have been harsh thus far...just a heads up. At the same time though I do want to be able to let discussion on any of my work get very open and free flowing so i can always just link curious clients to the first post if necessary...not a huge deal.
 
No problemo. Will keep the language down.

Anyway, always did like the ideal of an external DVD drive. Would allow me to cram in more drives or fans :)
 
Hey danny... what nameless vendor might own ur soul now ; )


OP, like the shuttle log. Will you be doing any H20 rigs anytime soon? Do you happen to have a website up?
 
I don't have any h2O systems on the way that I know about. The one thing that I was considering was an entire watercooling loop that would fit 100% inside of the Shuttle that I just posted pictures of. Problem is it'll have to wait until I can afford to build my fiance her own system, just because of the downtime involved with me tearing apart the whole Shuttle to get the case prepped for a few things I have in mind. The wedding in 16 days takes a little bit of priority in that situation I'm afraid. ;)

I just started to get a little busier and I'm considering a website but I don't have anything up and running as of yet.

Depending on hosting costs I may entertain the thought of a website after the wedding sometime, as it would be a very clean and efficient way to display any of my work as well as a source of basic information that I can point people towards.

I'll keep you guys posting in the coming weeks if that happens though.
 
Best of luck to you. The economy is rough right now, so this is a hard business to get ahead.
 
Best of luck to you. The economy is rough right now, so this is a hard business to get ahead.

Thanks but thankfully it's not a primary income source...busy enough that it's not really on and off but I don't have to worry about staying busy long term so it's very low stress.
 
I finally found what i had been looking for...the one remaining picture of my first watercooling setup for 4+ years ago!!!



And here's another system build of my own from a little while ago, nothing fancy, but considering the extremely limited cable routing options in the Antec SLK1650B I was fairly happy with the result:

 
Thanks...can't wait to get my Shuttle up and running again and finish it's mods.

Hopefully more pics will be on the way in the next week or so.
 
A little update for you guys.

I got my BIOS chip back from Shuttle a couple days ago...but effing UPS beat it up in shipping and one of the legs broke right off the chip when I (gently) pulled it out of the foam insert. :mad::mad::mad:

Shuttle is sending me another one (with better packaging this time) but I'm not waiting!

I'm starting a new project while I wait...and will be selling the SP35P2 Pro when I get the new BIOS chip.

I'm going to be moving all of my hardware into the much smaller SG31G2 XPC. I'll have to make a large cut-out in the side panel for the HD4870's cooler to stick out the left side but it'll be worth it. I'm also picking up a Thermaltake Toughpower Express 450W PSU to power the video card, as the SG31G2 only comes with a 250W PSU out of the box. I was gonna be switching to an external optical drive anyways, so putting the Tt 450W PSU in the 5.25" bay only makes sense. There will still be room behind the Tt PSU to install a 92mm fan in the top of the case for some extra airflow as well.

All in all I'm pretty excited, I won't be losing out on any performance of my current system and will be gaining the ability to install a sound card or other PCI device along with my dual slot video card!

Monday is a holiday so I'll be making the order Tuesday morning and with any luck I'll have the new Shuttle and Tt PSU before the end of next week!
 
Wow...I can't believe I haven't been updating the thread...sorry guys, it completely slipped my mind.

Since the last update I had finished my case mods to the Shuttle, but then it died...details can be found in the Shuttle's project thread here but I'll still be updating the first post of this thread with pictures of the Shuttle as it was.

After the Shuttle died I was presented with a few options and decided to build a new system. I ended up going with the Silverstone TJ08 mATX case and DFI's Lanparty Jr P45 motherboard. The system is running extremely well, specs are in my signature.

In addition to that (although not as big a deal) I recently rebuilt my mother-in-law's computer using the Antec 300 Gamer case and an Antec 380W Earthpower PSU. The 300 is an amazing case for ~$50 and considering that I had a relatively old system to work with (s754 A64) it was interesting to wire everything as neatly as I could.

I plan to use the Antec 300 Gamer case for as many of my future builds as possible, but I will be stepping things up and making the Corsair VX450 my standard PSU for most builds. Also, I'll probably end up picking up a power drill and a hole saw attachment or something so that with every case I can cut holes in the mobo tray with either the dremel or hole saw.

So yeah, enough talk for now...the first post will be updated shortly, comments are always welcome.
 
Cornelious,

obviously great job on TJ08 build (well, I guess, folks here have come to expect nothing less from you ;) ). I have a practical interest in that build (TJ08 + DFI JR P45-T2RS), more specifically:
1. Is it possible, in your opinion, to fit 4 3.5" HHDs in that case? What about 5? ... ideally retaining the front intake fan.
2. How quiet is your setup? Can you tell from 1 meter away with your eyes shut if the system is running?
Thanks!
 
It's good to finally be back, I know it's been forever but I just wanted to revive this thread as I hope to be adding to the gallery soon enough.

I have started a topic in the general hardware forum regarding a podcast that I'm starting on general PC hardware and game performance so everyone make sure to check it out...and you can definitely expect to see more of me around here in the months to come.

Back to the way things used to be, what I've missed. :)

EDIT: As a ridiculously overdue response to the last reply...with the typical system you're going to be INSANELY short on space if you try and max out your number of internal drives in the TJ08 and I would not recommend it. Noise wise I've never been overly picky with my systems, you can tell that they're on but it's never anything crazy. I usually run a handful of 50-70cfm 120mm case fans but the majority of what you notice is airflow noise...not fan noise.
 
Gonna take the time here to also upload a picture of my system as it is currently. I moved everything out of the TJ08 and into the Mini P180 awhile back for some extra space. It's a little ironic because as soon as I can justify forking over $300 for the mobo/psu for my modded Shuttle I'll be moving back to it...but I thought I should at least show things as they currently are.

 
Man, some of this stuff's going back a ways now...I've got a new project in the works between a couple companies/podcasts and I'm looking at relaunching my "venture" locally under a new name and with a lot more structure.

Thanks for the words of encouragement though, same old same old. ;)

I've got a Lian-Li PC-7B sitting here that's just begging to be hacked up. :cool:
 
Give me a shout, Ill be @ a DOE installation project most of the day, but ill sneak out for a bit around lunch :)
 
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